Some early Spring sunshine has got us all examining our outdoor spaces, but did you know that a lick of paint on your front door could give your whole home a face lift and add some serious kerb appeal? So what’s involved in restoring your door?
Claire Manton, furniture artist and founder of Claire’s CraftHouse, shares her top insider tips for sprucing up your front door.
Front doors are not cheap to replace but when they get tired and tatty, they can drag the whole look of your house down.
Regardless of whether you have a traditional solid wood door, or a more contemporary composite, you can ring the changes with a freshen up or a brand-new colour.
The paint of choice is Fusion Mineral Paint – a hard-wearing, low-VOC, water-based paint with an in-built acrylic resin, offering a super smooth finish that is also highly durable and wipeable, making it perfect for a front door project.
Step One: Thoroughly clean your door with a good degreaser. If it has a waxed finish this does need to be removed using white spirits and wire wool, before cleaning off the residue.
Step Two: Scuff sand the surface to key it. This gives the paint something to grip onto. If your door is a composite and the surface substrate isn’t wood, you’ll need an adhesion primer. These primers form a bond between the paint and the surface off your project, for a long-lasting result. Without them, your paint will peel off.
Step Three: Either remove or mask off your door hardware – handles, letterboxes, door knockers – and any glass panels, for a clean paint line.
Step Four: Choose a colour and get painting. Calm pastels such as botanical sage green are always a popular choice, but don’t be afraid to go bold and show some personality. Since you’ll be painting both sides of your door the same colour, take your interior colour scheme into account, especially if you don’t have a porch and your front door is largely visible from your hallway. If you’re really stuck on colour, a colour wheel will help you find combinations for both high impact and harmonious looks, as well as giving ideas for accent colours that will work a treat in your hallway.
Step Five: Add durability with a top coat. Front doors need to weather the elements so make sure your project is protected. Paler colours are best top coated with water-based sealers, whilst darker colours benefit from oil-based sealers, which maintain the crispness of colour.
Top tip – timing is everything: A few practical pointers before you get started – it’s best to avoid very hot days for a project like this as the paint will be drying before you’ve finished each stroke, making the task much tougher. Equally, very windy days might result in debris sticking to your wet paint areas, so choose a dry day with minimum breeze.
